And Again, It’s You – Book Excerpt

Hello friend! Today I am chatting with Jessica Shorstein about her memoir, And Again, It’s You. In the book, Jessica shares about three men that she met in her late teens and early 20s and how they made their way back in her life in later years. If you are looking for a book that touches on the culture of dating and instant messaging, this is one for you to check out! Let’s welcome Jessica and learn more about the book. You will also find a book excerpt after the interview. 🙂

---

Get to know the author: Jessica Shorstein

Welcome to Armed with A Book, Jessica! Tell me and my readers a bit about yourself!

Hi everyone! I’m a lawyer by training (though it’s been a while since I’ve practiced), and I’m a new indie author. While I’m not a huge fan of pina coladas, I do enjoy getting caught in the rain. I’m originally from Northeast Pennsylvania, and I spent most of my 20s and early 30s living in the Washington, DC area. Now, I live in north Florida with my husband and three young children, and I use all of my spare minutes to write!

What inspired you to write this book?

I knew that I wanted to write about some of my dating experiences, and these were the stories that just kind of came out first, particularly when I realized they all tracked the same theme of people who appeared in my life during formative times and then reappeared later on.

How long did it take you to write this book, from the first idea to the last edit?

I started writing it in 2016. I picked it up again in 2018 and finished it at that time. I didn’t touch it again until late 2020, deep into the first winter of the pandemic when I knew we wouldn’t be leaving home much and I wanted to have a project. It turned out that the time between drafts gave me enough separation from the book to come back and tear it apart and rewrite much of it for the better, ultimately resulting in a version I believed I could finally publish. I didn’t intend for it to take six years, but here we are. 

What makes your book unique?

I believe my book is unique because it touches on dating during a specific period of time—the early 2000s, when everybody I knew used AOL Instant Messenger for most of their communications (and flirtations). Not everyone had cell phones at that time, and social media as we know it did not yet exist, so AIM was where it was at. 

Who would enjoy reading your book? 

Truly anyone who had an early love interest that they wondered about later on, or anyone who has run into people from their past and wondered if there were larger circumstances at play that caused them to meet beyond mere coincidence. 

What’s something you hope readers would take away from it?

The idea that we are truly all connected. 

Do you have a favourite quote or scene in the book that you find yourself going back to?

So there’s a bit of a…fart scene. Granted I am a sucker for anything toilet humor, but every single time I re-read the book to edit it—and mind you, that was a LOT of times—I laughed out loud at that scene. And then I would say to my husband, “If I’m still laughing at this, that must mean it’s funny, right?”

---

Book Excerpt from
And Again, It’s You: A Memoir

I settled into the small wooden chair at my dorm room desk and slowly opened up my laptop. I glanced out the large window in front of me and saw that a thin layer of ice had formed in the corners of the glass. The winter air outside was bitter cold, and I still felt the chill on my cheeks. I had just arrived back on campus after winter break. My overstuffed pale purple and neon green Adidas duffle bag sat in the middle of the floor by my bed where I had plopped it down minutes before. I rubbed my hands together to generate heat and then pulled the sleeves of my soft, light gray sweater closer to my fingers. My eyes made their way back to my computer screen, and I wondered if Jared was online. We had talked only a handful of times while we were both home for the holidays, and I had been looking forward to the time when we would both be back at our computers on a regular basis again.

I felt my face break into a smile and my cheeks begin to tingle when I glanced at my Buddy List and saw Gr8tefulDd1023 signed on. I took a deep breath and resisted the urge to message him. Within a minute, a message popped up on my screen.

Gr8tefulDd1023: Heya =)
JeSslcA148: Hey there! I just got back to school. How’s it going?
Gr8tefulDd1023: Welcome back!
JeSslcA148: Thanks!
JeSslcA148: When did you get back?
Gr8tefulDd1023: Last night. It’s good to be here =)
JeSslcA148: Agreed! 
Gr8tefulDd1023: Though, it was a little awkward when I almost ran into my ex-girlfriend in the dining hall a little while ago.

...Ex-girlfriend?

JeSslcA148: Oh yeah?
Gr8tefulDd1023: Yeah, Amy and I broke up over break.
JeSslcA148: Oh, I’m sorry. 
Gr8tefulDd1023: Thanks. It’s okay, it was a long time coming.
JeSslcA148: Ahh.

I said “Ahh,” but all I could think was, I knew it!, with a background choir singing “Hal-le-lu-jah! Hal-le-lu-jah!” in my mind. I exhaled deeply. The path forward was clear. Jared wasn’t in a relationship anymore. Nor was I, of course. Our dynamic had not changed. So what did this mean for us moving forward? I didn’t know exactly, but I was excited to find out.

Gr8tefulDd1023: I’m headed out to grab some food. Catch ya on here later?
JeSslcA148: Sounds great 🙂

————

I stretched my arms up above my head with my hands clasped together and stretched slowly to the right and then the left. Then, I shook out my legs and sat down at my desk before clicking on Jared’s screen name.

JeSslcA148: Hey!
Gr8tefulDd1023: Heya!

I loved the ease with which Jared and I connected these days. If the seeds of something between us had been planted during the fall semester, nurtured by the light, soil, and water of our late night heart-to-heart IMs, now something green and new had broken through the earth and into the light of day. I strummed my fingers on my keyboard for a moment and marveled over how we talked so frequently now, and how he was such a regular part of my day to day that he had actually begun to influence my life in a meaningful way. It was hard to believe that he had inspired me to join the Penn State crew team and that early morning practices had already begun.

JeSslcA148: So, crew is hard! I’m so sore right now! :-/
JeSslcA148: I like to think I’m in decent shape, but this is kicking my butt.
Gr8tefulDd1023: Yep =) It’ll do that. 
Gr8tefulDd1023: Good on you for getting started!
JeSslcA148: Thanks 🙂 Definitely still getting used to the pre-sunrise workouts and excessive amounts of push ups while everyone else is still sleeping, and how cold it is on the way to practice… but I like it.
JeSslcA148: Thanks for the inspiration to join! 
Gr8tefulDd1023: Anytime. Had a feeling you’d like it, we’re usually of the same mind on things =)
JeSslcA148: Indeed 😉

A few minutes passed, and then I saw another message from Jared pop up.

Gr8tefulDd1023: You know, I was telling a buddy about you, and I realized how long it’s been since I’ve actually seen you.
JeSslcA148: A year and a half?
Gr8tefulDd1023: And I realized I don’t even have a picture of you since we weren’t on the same group in Israel.
JeSslcA148: Ahh, true

I felt my heart start to beat faster. He was talking about me? He wants a picture of me? My mind danced with images of Jared and me together: walking on a narrow downtown street hand in hand; sitting in a red booth together with a half-eaten pizza between us; comfortable in a movie theater with his arm around my shoulders. There would be pictures to capture every moment of what we could be. I shook my head and realized I hadn’t given him a full reply.

JeSslcA148: Well I can probably find a picture to send you, but only if you send one of you also!
JeSslcA148: Cause I mean…I’m not sure I remember what you look like
JeSslcA148: (kidding. I do. At least I think so) 
Gr8tefulDd1023: I think that can be arranged =)
Gr8tefulDd1023: Alas, gotta head to class for now…catch ya later, Jess
JeSslcA148: Later!

I watched Jared’s status message go up: “Class,” and then I clicked on my own away message box, mulling over what to post. I glanced at the song lyrics at the bottom of my profile, which had changed recently, concurrent with the shift in dynamic between Jared and me this semester. I had added an excerpt from the Dave Matthews band song “Ants Marching,” a part about two people looking at each other and speculating what’s on the mind of the other but not saying anything. To me that particular line summed up what was going on between Jared and me. By this point something had clearly developed between us, but we were dancing around the subject of admitting that we liked each other. I know we were both wondering what this thing between us was and whether it would go anywhere, but we carefully avoided the topic because there was a risk involved. There was a danger of the other person not feeling exactly the same way, and also of damaging the deep friendship that we had built and come to rely on.

I typed “Out and about” as my away status and then instinctively clicked back onto Jared’s name again. I felt my stomach flutter as I noticed that his profile had also changed. He had posted new lyrics from a song called “Chasing Daydreams” by Shades Apart. My brow furrowed as I looked them over—I had never heard of the song or band before. I clicked into my Napster music player and quickly searched for and then downloaded the song.

When I clicked the play button a few minutes later, I heard rhythmic electric guitar picking and then listened carefully when a male voice began to sing. He crooned about going after the person of his dreams and protecting them while knowing that this object of his affection was also there to keep him safe as he fell for them, too. Tiny goosebumps coated my arms, and I felt my face begin to flush as I knew at once that Jared had directed the lyrics in his profile toward me. We were speaking to each other without saying any words.

---

Interested?

Find this book on Goodreads and Amazon.

Thank you for hanging out with us today. Learn more about Jessica on her website, Goodreads, Amazon and Facebook. You can sign up her newsletter here.

---

If you are an indie author and would like to do a book excerpt, check out my work with me page for details. Check out other book excerpts here.

Cover Photo on Unsplash